The Minstrel
by Mothstar
Summary: Redtail, recently out of training, has become a minstrel in the kingdom of Star. Come, lend an ear, and listen to his songs!
1. A Song to Passersby of the Great Journey

**Chapter 1: A Song to Passersby of the Great Journey**

"Hear ye, hear ye! A skilled minstrel will perform whatever you wish!"

Redtail's eyes gaze across the crowd of passersby with displeasure. True to their title, they pass by without a second glance.

"Hear ye this! I'll sit and sing till any of ye lend an ear to my songs!"

With that, he closes his eyes and strums soulfully on the lyre perched on his knee.

"A song to sing, a tale of old. Times have passed, tales to be told. What may I say, what may I do? I may do nay until I sing for you.

"Seven cats with naught alike, woven pasts, filled with dislike. Prejudice and pride o'ercome, till all depart, four joined in one."

A few people are stopping to listen. When cats behind them hiss impatiently, some sit around Redtail's stool.

"_Darkness...and sky...and water...and air...join...to crush...the forest...there. Four Clans, four cats, all to one."_

When he speaks next, his voice is melancholy and seems to echo.

"_Darkness, air, water, and sky will come together, and shake the forest to its roots. Nothing will be as it is now, nor as it has ever been before."_

A few onlookers shiver at Redtail's ominous words.

He picks up the beat, almost reciting a poem now.

"_One and one and one and one, and then two others too_

_Come and meet at the Fourtrees to decide on what to do._

_Squirrel and Storm, they tag along._

_Bramble and Tawny met before,_

_Storm and Feather never tore,_

_Squirrel knows Bramble, better than'd be liked_

_But Crow's alone, lone in his flight._

_To the sun-drown place, and hurry!_

_Twolegs come, not kind or furry,_

_Destroy the forest, trees and all,_

_The work of their monsters' paws._

_Meeting Midnight, not a threat,_

_Nor at the darkness of moonhigh."_

Redtail pauses and recites another prophecy.

"_A dying warrior the way will show."_

He resumes his poem.

"_And the forest, chaos, despair_

_Hiding from the Twolegs there._

_Cats are dying, prey is frying_

_(Though how, I neither know nor care)._

_The seven return, but now are six_

_Feather was lost, betwixt_

_The mountains and their former home—_

_Died in a prophecy not her own._

'_A silver cat will save us.'_

_And save them she did, though at a cost to great for Crow to bear._

_Then double back, o'er mountains again,_

_With the rest of our Clan and kin._

_Find a new home, along the shores_

_Of a lake. Surrounded by moors and trees galore_

_This seemed to be the place._

_Then another prophecy_

_Between a Leaf cat of med:_

'_Before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red.'_

_Before it came true, she ran away with Crow._

_Midnight, she returned, warned to go back to Clans:_

_Badgers killed, badgers growled, badgers, badgers all over._

_Clan was saved,_

_Cinder gave up her life,_

_And it was returned to her._

_Crow and Leaf split,_

_And blood spilled blood_

_As Hawkfrost was slain by his brother Bramble._

_Peace had come._

_But another prophecy was ahead..."_

Redtail gazed at his audience.

"Though moons pass until we know where to be led."

He bows his head, his song complete.

The crowd around him applauds wildly. Redtail removed his minstrel's cap and holds it out to the audience; within moments it grows heavy with coins.

"Thank you, thank you much. I appreciate it! Oh, thank you kindly!"

A dappled golden cat rises to her paws and places a gold coin into his cap. "Nay, it is thee we must thank, for thy wonderful account of the Great Journey! How often dost thou expect to be at this here corner, playing thy bards?"

Redtail smiles at the she-cat's old English, as well as her misuse of 'bard.' "Aye, I shall be here whenever I can, to sing and entertain!"

The she-cat smiles broadly in return. "I thank ye! My name, it is Mothdapple, and pardon my English. I am trying to make a good impression, for I am not from this time."

Mothdapple winks an amber-yellow eye and departs, leaving Redtail mystified.

"Be ye from past or future, if you return, I'll sing any song ye wish!"

**Thank ye kindly for reading! I beseech thee, please review, and if you wish, contact me with a Private Message to allow thy own character to visit Redtail and suggest a song.**

**Farewell, wherever you fare!**

**~Mothstar**


	2. Lady Sandstorm and Leafpool's Past

**Chapter 2: Leafpool's Past for Lady Sandstorm**

Redtail is on his minstrel's stool once again, garbed in a cheery outfit of red, blue, and yellow. A blue feather pokes out of his cap.

"'Tis I, Redtail, the skilled minstrel of Star! I ask, I beg of thee, come and lend an ear to my songs!"

A pale ginger she-cat dressed in an expensive, flowing gown comes over and gazes at him through green eyes.

"O Redtail, minstrel of Star, I implore thee to sing of my daughter, Leafpool, for she has had a wonderfully unfortunate life."

Redtail dips his head. "Aye, Lady Sandstorm, I shall sing for thee until I have no words left to use."

He strums soulfully on his lyre and takes a deep breath as Lady Sandstorm places a cushion daintily on the street and sits.

"A future unlike anyone's," Redtail begins. "Past, present, and future. One can become a healer after warrior, but perchance the other way about? Come, lend an ear, and listen well as I sing of a unique one known as Leafkit, Leafpaw, Leafpool."

Lady Sandstorm dabs daintily at her eye with a lacy handkerchief.

"Leafkit and Squirrelkit, Little Miss Perfect, had to switch nests, but O! A fire ant!"

Lady Sandstorm smiles in fond remembrance of Squirrelkit's sullen endurance instead of confessing to putting a fire ant in her sister's nest.

"_Then Leafkit ages and becomes a 'paw,_

_Apprenticed to the medicine cat Cinderpelt._

_Walks with a limp, hit by a monster,_

_Can't be a warrior but that won't stop her!_

_A misread sign that brings_

_Hostility and fear against two certain things:_

_Fire and tiger—Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw._

_They will destroy the forest? O!_

_How could that be? I cannot say_

_Anything to my sister anyway!_

_Leafpaw knows they are going to leave,_

_Transfers herb knowledge, of root and leaf_

_Stays in contact through that special link_

_Watching, waiting, longer than you think._

_The forest falls apart around them,_

_Firestar is worried for Clan and daughter._

_Then the missing return with terrible news:_

_They have to leave the forest for good!_

_Graystripe is gone: he saved us from_

_The Twolegs and their cages and monsters._

_The Great Journey happens,_

_And love blossoms_

_Crowfeather and Leafpaw_

_They don't think it awesome._

_The Moonpool's discovered, and Leafpaw_

_Becomes Leafpool, after it all._

'_Before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red.'_

_Bramble and Squirrel are fated for love,_

_But what of this prophecy? Leafpool runs._

_Crowfeather and Leafpool, away from the Clans—_

_A badger stops them, and loyalty wins._

_The Clan is saved, but Cinderpelt dies_

_And is reborn as a kit as she cries._

_Brambleclaw kills Hawkfrost, his blood_

_And the lake runs red with the evil cat's blood._

_But Leafpool's expecting! How can that be?_

_Will it all work out? We must wait and see._

_Leafpool gives birth to the Power of Three_

_And gives them to her sister to raise nice as could be._

_She watches them grow, spoils them, loves them_

_Even mentors two of them, though it doesn't last with Holly._

_Oblivious to the prophecy before her eyes,_

_She educates Jayfeather, makes him wise._

_When the Three learn of their parentage_

_Holly abandons the Clans with a message:_

"_Crowfeather of WindClan is our father!"_

_No longer is it hidden any longer._

_Hollyleaf flees and seemingly dies_

"_Chasing a squirrel." What a surprise!_

_This murderous she-cat cares for her Clan,_

_Hunting and fighting with all that she can._

_Leafpool knows she killed Ashfur; it's as plain as can be_

_When a tuft of her fur is between the claws of he._

_She must retire from her position!_

_Become a warrior, no longer in medicine!_

"_I miss it with every breath I take."_

_Now with her son breaking the ties_

_Between Clan and Clan, her rage is on the rise._

_Will she steal catmint to heal Littlecloud?_

_Jayfeather doesn't trust her—her trust is not sound._

_Guards are posted, and Leafpool tries_

_With all of her might to erase any lies_

_But none are left for her to undo_

_So she lives on, you see, with skills left in disuse._

_But the battle is coming, and ThunderClan needs_

_All of its medicine cats to heal with their seeds."_

When Redtail finishes, Lady Sandstorm is sobbing into her handkerchief.

"That was marvelous, minstrel, simply marvelous! I thank thee! Take this token of my appreciation, and I bid thee adieu."

The lady removes a golden bracelet ringed with jewels from her wrist and hands it to Redtail before padding away.

"Thank you very, very much, mistress!" Redtail calls.


End file.
